March 1, 2013 —
Two major changes at the Library Center will affect visitors and Springfield City Utilities bus riders beginning Monday, March 4. Library visitors may contend with noise and dust during a roof project, and bus riders will have to catch their rides at the street.

City Utilities is temporarily moving the bus stop from its current position near the front door of the Library Center at 4653 S. Campbell Ave. to the curb at the frontage road – South Lyons Avenue – near the north driveway of the Library Center. The change is effective Monday. CU does not have immediate plans to put a shelter at the new stop, said CU Transit spokesman Dale Gormley.

A roof project beginning March 7 at the Library Center is displacing the bus stop access. CU did not want to enter the parking lot during the roofing project, so CU officials decided to move the bus stop to the street until after the roofing project is complete, about May 1.

In the future, Gormley said CU hopes to build a permanent bus stop directly across the frontage road, with a shelter and bike rack, a wheelchair access cutout and a street crosswalk to the Library property, he said. CU does not have a timetable for that project.

For more information about the bus stop, call CU Transit Services at 831-8782.
On March 7, Kirberg Roofing Company expects to begin a six- to eight-week project replacing the Library Center’s 72,500-square-foot flat roof. It is the original roof constructed when the site was built in 1995 as a Payless Cashways store.

No chemicals or tar will be used, but patrons who have meetings or study plans at the library may contend with dust and additional noise until the project’s scheduled completion by May 1. They can also have their books delivered to other library branches. For information on other locations and hours, visit thelibrary.org/branches.

The estimated $375,000 project will be funded from the Library District’s general operating funds, and will carry a 20-year warranty.

In removing the old roof, workers will use an industrial-size vacuum to remove the 325 tons of gravel covering the entire roof. The gravel was installed at the time of construction to weigh down the existing roof “membrane.” During vacuuming, the gravel chunks will rattle through an aluminum tube across the roof and down a 27-foot drop to a hopper and into a dump truck. (Gravel will not be required for the new roof.)

Where do those 325 tons of gravel and 72,500 square feet of roof covering go? It will be recycled. Kirberg Roofing plans to sell it to other companies for road construction and landscaping.

The new roof will feature a layer of insulating cover board and a white top layer of Thermoplastic PolyOlefin, a polymer/filler blend that is UV-protected so it will withstand and reflect the sun’s rays, offering some energy savings.